The EU’s Giant Gender Agenda

Women, as some witty Frenchman once put it, inspire us with the desire to do masterpieces, and always prevent us from carrying them out. — Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

When is a quota not a quota? When it’s part of the new proposal about women on boards, which European Union Justice Commissioner (Corrected–see below) Viviane Reding put forward today after what she called a “strong discussion” within the EU’s college of commissioners. Or, rather, it is a quota, but one where failure to comply won’t necessarily lead to sanctions – a sort of pink, fluffy, more feminine quota.

“The quota proposals are very weak and fall disappointingly short of what are needed to redress bias against women,” Fiona Hotston Moore, partner at City of London accountancy firm Reeves, and a campaigner for legal quotas, said in a statement. “They only apply to non-executive directors and will encourage more tokenism. We need mandatory quotas for a fixed period of time to get the balance right.”

Advertisement

Ms. Reding and her legal team have made revisions to the proposals after the heated talks at the level of the EU’s 27 commissioners last month. One EU official stressed that the tweaks only related to a “linguistic clarification in the sanctions provision” and the “equivalent efficacy clause” that will allow member states to keep their current gender parity legislation if it’s sufficient to meet the goals.

More details on the proposals are here. But as any seasoned Brussels-watcher knows, this is only the start of the game. The proposal now has to go to the EU parliament and council. Do not underestimate the regally-coiffed Luxembourger; she is a consummate Brussels politician. In her previous portfolio she managed to bring in price caps for mobile telephone calls in the face of huge opposition from member states and companies.

A former MEP, she knows how to charm the Parliament, which has enthusiastically backed this idea. Certain factions there would like the legislation to go beyond just supervisory boards and be extended. In her speech, Ms. Reding channeled decades of Oscar winners (here she is in Cannes) and thanked “all those who have fought tirelessly for this cause and helped me get this proposal on the table, notably the Members of the European Parliament from all the major political parties.”

Given that rumors abound here about Ms. Reding angling to take over from José Manuel Barroso when his term ends, it makes sense to give the parliament the patriarchy’s head on a plate.* And the timing couldn’t be better, as the parliament’s ECON committee fights it out with the EU Council over the appointment of Yves Mersch to the ECB: It’s one giant gender agenda.

The level of respect is mutual, with one EU official today referring to “this coalition of the nine dwarfs”—the nine countries including the U.K. which wrote a letter to Ms. Reding earlier this year setting out their opposition.

Then there’s the controversy within the commission. While the proposal got through, by the time the press release was sent out this afternoon, the ‘Q’ word was absent, with the headline declaring “Women on Boards: Commission proposes 40% objective.”

“Since when did it go from quota to objective? “ one EU official from a different department remarked to Real Time Brussels. “I must have missed something … didn’t hear the O word in the press conference!”

Then there are the legal ramifications… That’s a whole other blog post for another day, but the proposal as stands, a woman who felt she’d been unfairly passed over when a company promoted a man of equal talent could take the company to court. Meaning – like so many things that emerge from the Berlaymont, the commission headquarters – another potential payday for lawyers.

*Bonus points for readers who can name the Oscar Wilde reference

(Ms. Reding’s title has been corrected. It was originally incorrectly stated as Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs. Her correct title is Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship.)

About Real Time Brussels

The Wall Street Journal’s Brussels blog is produced by the Brussels bureau of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires. The bureau has been headed since 2009 by Stephen Fidler, who was previously a correspondent and editor for the Financial Times and Reuters. Also posting regularly: Matthew Dalton, Viktoria Dendrinou, Tom Fairless, Naftali Bendavid, Laurence Norman, Gabriele Steinhauser and Valentina Pop.